Three Body Abrasive Wear Characteristics of Cast Medium Carbon High Boron Alloy Steels

The microstructure, performance and three body abrasive wear characteristics of the cast medium carbon high boron steels were studed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and self-made three body abrasive wear tester. The results show that when the boron content increased, volume fraction of hard-phas, hardness and wear resistance of the test steel increased, but impact toughness reduced. The increase of hard-phase quantity and size was good to resist abrasive cutting and furrow deformation. The wear of matrix was mainly attributed to micro-cutting and plastic deformation, and the hard-phase showed fracture wear mechanism. Small wear rate was given in low load as a lot of deformed matrix cumulated, but fracture of the boron carbon compounds accelerated in high load leading to the rapid increase of wear rate.